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The White House is going to have to provide answers on whether it thinks cell phone unlocking should be illegal. Unlocking cell phones unties them from specific carriers, allowing users to switch to a different cellular provider. This was legal until recently, when the Library of Congress decided not to renew the Digital Millennium Copyright Act exemption for unlocking.

Outraged cell phone users filed a White House Petition demanding the reversal of this policy. The petition was filed just days after the White House said petitions would only get an answer if they received 100,000 signatures within a month, rather than the previous threshold of 25,000.

The cell phone unlock petition passed 100,000 today, two days before the deadline. You can still sign it if you wish. The text reads:

WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:

Make Unlocking Cell Phones Legal.

The Librarian of Congress decided in October 2012 that unlocking of cell phones would be removed from the exceptions to the DMCA.

As of January 26, consumers will no longer be able unlock their phones for use on a different network without carrier permission, even after their contract has expired.

Consumers will be forced to pay exorbitant roaming fees to make calls while traveling abroad. It reduces consumer choice, and decreases the resale value of devices that consumers have paid for in full.

The Librarian noted that carriers are offering more unlocked phones at present, but the great majority of phones sold are still locked.

We ask that the White House ask the Librarian of Congress to rescind this decision, and failing that, champion a bill that makes unlocking permanently legal.

While the White House typically provides a response to petitions, there doesn't seem to be any deadline for it to do so. For example, one successful petition from May 2012 asking the government to "require free access over the Internet to scientific journal articles arising from taxpayer-funded research" has gone unanswered.

Promoted Comments

The reason is that is it cheaper. It is cheaper thanks to subsidies from the phone network. In all fairness, if the phone company is subsidizing your phone, they should get something out of it. You can subsidize yourself and get an unlocked phone.

I think this realization is why the Nexus 4 is doing so well. People are tired of buying locked phones and would rather just pay for their phone outright.

--t

The carriers DO get something out of it: they get you locked into a contract for two years. If you break that contract, you pay a fee - a fee which negates the subsidy built into the phone. Thus, the carriers are already protected.